Venusians
| status = | homeworld = Venus | stellar system = Sol System | galaxy = Milky Way | body type = Varies | lifespan = Varies | height = Varies | weight = Varies | limbs = Varies | eyes = Varies | fingers = Varies | toes = Varies | special adaptations = Varies | language = | sub-groups = | representatives = Ymir | allies = | enemies = | 1st = Pirates of Venus }} Venusians are extraterrestrial life forms native to the planet Venus in the Sol System. Venusians have appeared in a variety of science fiction stories over the years, going as far back as far as the early 1930s with Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Venus Series" of pulp fiction stories. In the series of novels and novellas, Burroughs' hero Carson Napier encounters the natives of Venus who refer to themselves as Amtorians. They first appeared in the 1934 novel Pirates of Venus. There were five novels written in the Venus Series between 1934 and 1965. In film, aliens from Venus became popular in the late 1950s. The first American film to highlight a Venusian was the 1956 movie It Conquered the World. A sentient Venusian life form strives to take over the planet Earth using mind control techniques to remove all emotion from the human consciousness. The following year, Morningside Productions released 20 Million Miles to Earth, which featured a giant, reptilian creature popularly referred to Ymir. This Venusian entity has become an iconic figure in the sci-fi genre and is considered one of the pinnacle achievements in the career of stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen. Ymir began life as a small life form barely six-inches tall. After arriving on the planet Earth, he quickly grew in size and mass at an exponential rate, until he was a towering monster nearly twenty-feet tall. Ymir went on a rampage throughout the Italian cities of Sicily and Rome before being killed by military weaponry while standing atop the Roman Coliseum. 20 Million Miles to Earth; Nathan Juran; 1957 In 1958, Hungarian actress Zsa Zsa Gabor played a Venusian freedom fighter named Talleah who leads a resistance to overthrow the evil Queen of Venus, Yllana in the film Queen of Outer Space. In the fictional future history of DC Comics, Venus was the home of scientist Laevar Bolto. Bolto invented a transmutation ray that would allow him to transform one object into another – but accidentally stumbled into the path of his own device and found himself imbued with its abilities. When he discovered that the citizens of Venus saw his invention as well as his abilities as an evil perversion, he left for Earth – only to find himself once again mistrusted and misunderstood. Infuriated, he took on the name Cosmic King and joined the Legion of Super Villains. Superman, Volume 1 #147; August, 1961 Another Venusian life form that has popped up in DC Comics from time to time is a sentient mind worm known as Mister Mind. Mister Mind was a cartoonish-looking creature, originally developed by comic creators Otto Binder and C.C. Beck as a foil for their flagship superhero, Captain Marvel. Mister Mind attempted to take over his native planet, but also sought to conquer the planet Earth as well. Mister Mind was originally the property of Fawcett Comics and first appeared in the 26th issue of Captain Marvel Adventures. When Fawcett went out of business, DC Comics purchased the rights to many of their characters, including Captain Marvel, his supporting cast and gallery of villains. The character has since been retooled in an effort to make him more of threatening and less comical than previous iterations of the character. Another variation of the Venusian race appeared in the 1964 season two episode of The Outer Limits entitled "Cold Hands, Warm Heart". The episode presented the Venusians as wraith-like beings who lived in Venus' atmosphere. Astronaut Jeff Barton encountered the Venusians while conducting Earth's first manned flight to Venus. Something about the experience altered Barton's genetic structure and he began slowly mutating into a different life form. Another group of Venusians were presented in the 1995 film Vampire Vixens from Venus. Venusians in their natural form were hideous red-skinned beings, but the obtained the ability to alter their form to look like humans. A group of Venusian drug dealers, on the run from the Intergalactic DEA, came to the planet Earth, where they assumed the forms of three buxom, beautiful women. They used their Venusian powers to seduce young men and steal their life energies. Notes & Trivia See also * Venusian mind worms External Links * Venusians at DCDP * Venusians at Wikipedia References